A new radiation therapy treatment offered to cancer patients at the Sault Area Hospital since March has seen 8 patients treated so far and the treatment sites have included lungs, pelvis, skull and brain.  Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy uses concentrated doses of radiation six times stronger than traditional radiation therapy and Northeast Cancer Centre Radiation Oncologist Dr. Andrew Pearce says the doses are delivered with pinpoint accuracy to the site of the cancer tumour with less impact on the surrounding healthy tissue with minimal side effects.  The technology is designed to treat early stage tumours and Dr. Pearce says it is definitely the therapy of choice among elderly or those that have heart and lung problems rather then surgery.  He says they started treating patients with tumours in the lung…

The number of patients treated with this technique is expected to increase…

As a result of this therapy, patients can complete their radiation therapy in as few as four treatments rather than 30.  The Northeast Cancer Centre in Sudbury introduced the procedure in the fall of 2013 and has now been introduced in the Sault through a virtual connection linking a medical team in the Sault with Sudbury during the treatment.